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Pregnant woman struck by DUII driver sues Clackamas County for failing to jail him

Cayla Wilson comes home

JaiKyla Wilson gave her mom, Cayla Wilson, a kiss as the injured woman returned from a rehabilitation home to her parents home in spring 2012, about two years after a DUII driver sent her into a vegetative state.
(Jamie Francis/The Oregonian/2012)

Opening statements are expected to begin Wednesday afternoon in the trial of a Gresham woman who is suing Clackamas County for $42 million for failing to revoke the probation of an intoxicated driver who left her in a vegetative state.

Attorneys for 23-year-old Cayla Wilson -- who was about five months' pregnant at the time of the April 2010 crash -- contend she wouldn't have been struck if probation officials had thrown Jack Dean Whiteaker behind bars for failing to follow the terms of his probation, which he had been on since June 2009.

Workers with Clackamas County Community Corrections failed to verify the phony home address Whiteaker gave as his own. Whiteaker skipped scheduled visits to the probation office, repeatedly brushed off drug treatment, lied about his employment and failed to pay more than $1,400 in court fees.

Two weeks before the crash, the lawsuit claims, Whiteaker’s probation officer filled out the appropriate paperwork that could have led to his revocation, but by then, it was too late. Probation officers didn’t know where Whiteaker was.

On April 15, 2010, he was high on meth when he veered his Jeep into Wilson’s Buick on Southeast Jenne Road, striking it nearly head-on. Wilson suffered a fractured skull and jaw, extensive brain damage and many other injuries. She fell into a vegetative state -- and still was in one two years later, when the lawsuit was filed.

About a month after the crash, Wilson, who was still unresponsive, gave birth by emergency C-section to JaiKyla. Born three months' premature, JaiKyla weighed 2 pounds and 3 ounces, suffered bleeding near her brain, a brain injury and underwent at least eight surgeries.

Jack WhiteakerMultnomah County Sheriff's Office

The lawsuit also seeks damages for JaiKyla, who is now 3.

Whiteaker was found guilty of intoxicated driving, assault and reckless driving; he was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The suit also lists Whiteaker as a defendant, but it’s unlikely Whiteaker -- who has a criminal history spanning more than 35 years -- will ever have the means to pay for any of the damage he has done.

Wilson’s parents, Bill and Denise Wilson, are listed as plaintiffs. They are acting as guardians for Wilson and her daughter.

The trial, which is in Multnomah County Circuit Court, is expected to last about two weeks.